JustServe Connects Communities Throughout Canada

According to a Statistics Canada study on volunteering, “volunteers play an important role in maintaining community well-being and contributing to the overall Canadian economy. Their annual volunteering time commitments equalled more than 2.5 million full-time jobs in 2018” (“Study: Volunteering Counts”).

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently connected with other communities by using technology to bridge their service efforts. The Church’s JustServe website and app were instrumental in helping communities in Lethbridge, Alberta, and Regina, Saskatchewan, while CrisisCleanup.org connected volunteers in British Columbia’s lower mainland.

The free JustServe platform connects volunteers looking for service opportunities with organizations who need help. Registering is easy, and volunteers can quickly find opportunities in their area. Additionally, a new option, “Volunteer Remotely,” was recently added to provide volunteers with virtual service opportunities.

Alberta

In Lethbridge, Alberta, a community event was held to bring together community organizations and volunteers. The event, called “Making Our Community a Better Place,” focused on creating awareness of local community resources and encouraging volunteerism. The Lethbridge Interfaith Network, Southern Alberta Ethnic Association and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hosted the event to discuss how to promote service opportunities as a community.

Becky Heyland, a local Latter-day Saint, said, “This meeting was an excellent opportunity to present to the community the value of community service and the ‘gifts’ we get in return when we give to those in need.”

Her husband, Daren Heyland, co-chair of the Lethbridge Interfaith Network, added, “The meeting was also an important milestone in our relationship with Volunteer Lethbridge, the government-funded volunteer management organization in town, as they officially announced our partnership and put JustServe on their website.”

Lethbridge Mayor Blaine Hyggen said, “Being a part of a community is very special. It’s being part of something bigger than self.” He went on to express gratitude for all the volunteers working to make Lethbridge a better place. He shared anecdotes about when he had the opportunity to serve those in need and how those experiences shaped his life.

Saskatchewan

In Regina, Saskatchewan, Angela Svenson, the president of the local Latter-day Saint women’s Relief Society organization, used JustServe to find a community project to do in celebration of the 180th anniversary of the Relief Society. Through JustServe, she discovered that the Mennonite Central Committee Canada (MCCC) was looking for people to sew kit bags. The women of Svenson’s congregation sewed and donated kit bags to MCCC for hygiene, sewing, school and dignity kits.

Svenson shared, “We loved it because this project reaches [people] across the world. Kits are sent to countries all over the world: Ukraine, Zambia, Honduras.” Partnering with a local organization for work that has a worldwide impact helped Svenson and her team feel connected locally and globally.

With project direction from MCCC and service hours from the Latter-day Saint women in Regina, 180 kit bags were prepared that will help dozens of families around the world.

British Columbia

The JustServe platform is only one example of how communities can come together through the power of technology. In the fall of 2021, when devastating floods hit British Columbia, Latter-day Saints teamed up with community members through another volunteer website, CrisisCleanup.org. This site connected community members with people who needed help to muck out their flooded homes.

Through their combined efforts, Latter-day Saint volunteers in British Columbia donated 3,450 hours of service to the community. This service involved setting up and staging a command centre, training team leaders and volunteers, taking requests for help, setting up orders and co-ordinating volunteer teams.

Volunteer Jonathan Layton said of his experience, “I was so grateful to be a part of the flood relief cleanup. It is rare to feel like you are doing something for someone that they simply can’t do on their own. Everyone who faced this was, and is, extremely resilient, but they all seemed so overwhelmed with the tasks ahead.”

Technology to connect volunteers with those needing help allowed for significant progress in restoring damage from the floods in the lower mainland of British Columbia.

Volunteers in Canada Make a Difference

With eight in 10 Canadians volunteering their time in the community, technology like the JustServe platform is powerful; it enables communities to come together to better help organizations in need. The JustServe website states, “We believe that nothing should get in the way of organizations and volunteers coming together to do good things for the community, so we help make this happen for free.”

Contributed by Stephanie Schindler

Read the article in French.